RAE and his Aussie wife had planned to move Down Under in the summer, but he says the offer of a new deal could change things.

GAVIN RAE is prepared to put his dreams of living Down Under on hold to sign a new deal with Aberdeen.

The midfield star is out of contract in the summer and was expected to head off to start a new life in Australia.

The
34-year-old’s wife Barbara is an Aussie and the couple plan to move to her homeland to raise their twins Gabriella and Jacob.

But Bondi Beach can wait.

Rae is loving life in his own hometown and his family are in no hurry to leave the Granite City.

It
may be barbie weather in Oz just now while Aberdeen is shivering – but Rae believes things are warming up nicely at Pittodrie.

He
said: “I am under contract until the summer so I’ll take it from there.
The plan was always to try to get to Australia before the kids started primary school.

“But we are so settled here, if something was to come up I would seriously considering staying.

“It
has not come up yet but if I was offered a new deal here I’d definitely
sign it – we will see what happens. I am enjoying my football.”

The BBQs are on the backburner for now and the only thing on Rae’s mind is turning up the heat on Hearts at Tynecastle today.

The
cash-strapped Gorgie outfit are fighting for their very survival and Rae knows exactly what the Jambos players are going through.

The
Scotland cap suffered the pain of administration at Dundee and was on the books of Cardiff City when their finances hit the skids.

He
said: “They will be wounded after the derby defeat but that game could have gone either way and it’s always a tough game down there.

“What
has happened off the field can galvanise players. People stick together
in these situations and you’ve seen the fans rally round.

“I’ve seen it when Dundee went into administration. It’s not nice when players are losing their jobs.

“Sometimes
the 90 minutes is like a release and a relief as there is nothing to concentrate on except what is happening on the park.

“Players
are playing for their futures – but I guess you could say that about every player because you never know what is around the corner in football.”

Aberdeen have an abysmal recent record at Tynecastle and boss Craig Brown is out to break the hoodoo.

He
watched in horror as the Dons went down 5-0 in Gorgie just hours before
he signed his contract at Pittodrie two years ago this week.

A
lot has changed since then, for both clubs, but one thing that has remained is Aberdeen’s rank record against Hearts in the capital.

A couple of 3-0 defeats followed the 5-0 drubbing and Brown is out to exorcise a few demons.

He said: “It’s a bit of a bogey ground for us. I don’t know why.

“It
was a very lucky ground at my previous club as we would go there and win. The last time we were there with Motherwell we won 2-0 then we came
with Aberdeen and lost 5-0 in the first game we watched.”

It’s
not just at Tynecastle the Jambos have been heart-breakers. Aberdeen have failed to score in any of their last eight against Hearts.

Rae said: “I don’t know why the record is like it is. In the last game up here it was 0-0 and we were really unlucky, we had a lot of the game and should have scored.

“I
don’t think there is any reason for the run but we need to address it this time. Tynecastle has not been a happy hunting ground but we have the chance to change that.

“It is a great stadium because the fans are right on top of you and they get right behind their team.

“The Aberdeen fans travel in big numbers though so it should be a great atmosphere.”

Rae insists Aberdeen will not be distracted by Tuesday’s Scottish Cup replay at Motherwell.

He added: “We will concentrate on Hearts first and then worry about Tuesday.

“There are a lot of games between now and January so it is a really vital period.”